Cursed
by ATwistedSista
Summary: The Sons were fourteen when Pogue's father died.


Title: Cursed

Author: ATwistedSista aka berryblue_girl

Rating: PG-13

Genre/Warnings: Minor character death and some language

Summary: The Sons were fourteen when Pogue's father died.

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie. If I did, Sarah and Kate wouldn't exist.

Author's Note: This is another entry for hc_bingo comm at LiveJournal. This is my first entry in this fandom, so I'm a little nervous. I hope everyone enjoys this!

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The Sons were fourteen when Pogue's father died. When they were nine, they were playing in Pogue's backyard. Reid was being his usual irritating self high up in the branches of the big oak tree. He had monkeyed himself up and was content to look down on the remaining three and tease them. He straddled a thick branch, kicking his legs and making chicken noises. Caleb and Tyler started to ignore him after a while and played catch with each other. But Pogue got mad and shouted, "No one's gonna call me a chicken at my house, Reid Simms!"

Pogue started to make his way up the tree, even though he was really afraid of heights. Caleb and Tyler rushed over and kept shouting at Pogue to come back down, that Reid being a butthead wasn't worth getting hurt. But Pogue refused and continued climbing. He finally reached Reid's branch, who grinned and teased, "I guess you ain't chicken after all."

"Darn right!" Pogue laughed. But as he adjusted his grip to begin climbing down, his right foot slipped, slamming him against the tree and stunning him, and he lost his grip. The boys watched in horror as their friend tumbled through the air. His small body slammed against the thick roots at the base. Caleb and Tyler took off running to get Mr. Parry, who was a doctor. Reid screamed for Pogue to wake up, to move, to do anything other than just lay there. By the time Caleb and Tyler reached Mr. and Mrs. Parry in their living room, they were each in tears. They gathered at either side of Mr. Parry and pulled at his hands, crying about how something awful had happened to Pogue. The four of them rushed back to the tree, Reid's screams getting louder and louder.

Mrs. Parry screamed when she saw Pogue's limp body at the base of the tree. Caleb and Tyler backed away from their friend, Tyler taking Caleb's hand and squeezing it. Mr. Parry knelt down beside Pogue, ordering Mrs. Parry to go back inside and call everyone over and to get their grounds keeper, Mike, to get the big ladder to get Reid down. She nodded and ran back to the house. Mr. Parry began touching Pogue, doing what they called in their young minds "doctor stuff". He reached under Pogue's head and pulled it back out. Caleb sobbed when he saw it come back covered in blood. Tyler, who hadn't let up on his grip on Caleb's hand, sobbed, "M-mr. P-parry, is P-pogue gonna d-die?"

"Be quiet, Tyler!" Mr. Parry snapped.

He kept touching Pogue, muttering to himself. Caleb and Tyler finally heard him say clearly, "It's the only way". They looked at each other, both confused by that. Their eyes fixed on him, they watched him as he laid one hand on Pogue's stomach and the other on his forehead. Suddenly Pogue's body went stiff and Caleb's eyes widened when he saw Mr. Parry's hands shimmer like they were covered with water. The boys knew about their fathers' powers but had never seen them use them. Their fathers didn't use them that much because it made them get older. Caleb bit his lip, now scared for Mr. Parry. He knew it would take a lot of power to fix whatever was wrong with Pogue, but he didn't know what that would do to Mr. Parry.

After what seemed like forever, Mr. Parry lifted his hands, which were already changing. He touched Pogue's cheek before collapsing next to him. After that, there was a fury of activity. Caleb, Reid, and Tyler were taken to Pogue's room with Pogue, who had yet to wake up. All of their parents had gathered in Mr. Mrs. Parry's bedroom. They could hear Mrs. Parry crying and the rumbling of their fathers' deep voices. Pogue's bedroom stayed silent, save for their soft sniffles.

The weeks that followed changed the four young boys forever. Pogue finally woke up after two days, completely fine but with no memory of what happened. By saving Pogue's life, Mr. Parry nearly ended his own. The other fathers and Gorman, the Danvers' most trusted ally, devised a plan to make it as though Mr. Parry had died in a car accident. This ritual had been done once before when the children were merely babies for Mr. Danvers. Pogue remembered how his mother made him wear a suit, how she tied his tie for him and brush his hair.

But now seven years later, Pogue sat on his bed, his suit laid out next to him. His mother was beside herself with grief, needing the maid Mary to help her. He finally stood and decided to get dressed. He didn't like the suit. It was scratchy and smelled too clean. But he put it on anyway because that was what his mother wanted. His hair barely brushed the collar of his dress shirt. It didn't take him that long at all to get prepared. He left his room and headed down the hall toward the master bedroom. The door was cracked open and he heard his mother's voice, exhausted from crying and drinking. Pogue could smell it, underneath the expensive rose oil, the lingering odor of old bourbon. He nudged the door with his foot to see his mother sitting at her boudoir with Mary styling her hair. Pogue cleared his throat and mumbled, "I'm all ready, Mom."

She turned her head, and her hand shot up to clutch her locket. She took a shuttering breath and whimpered, "God...you look so much like your father."

Pogue looked down at his too new shoes, bothered by that comment. He left the room and went downstairs to wait. They were going out the the Danvers' old mansion in the woods. A private little cemetery had been set up by their four fathers in case any of them wanted a proper burial. Pogue paced in front of the stairs. As the car pulled up in front of their estate, his mother came downstairs with Mary, giving her instructions to to have the lunch ready by the time they came back from the service. His mother took his arm and he led them out to the car, where their driver Milton waited with the backseat door open. Pogue helped his mother climb in before circling to the other side. The ride was quiet, uncomfortably so. He was sad that his father was dead, but he didn't know if what he felt was as strong as his mother's grief.

They arrived at the broken-down mansion, three cars already parked in front. Pogue and Milton climbed out, Milton helping Pogue's mother out of the car. The other families began climbing out of their respective cars. The Sons drifted toward each other, each of them giving Pogue a quiet hug and handshake. The other mothers flocked around his, each offering her own form of comfort and Mr. Simms and Mr. Garwin standing back.

The service was short, Gorman, Mr. Garwin, and Mr. Simms each saying a few short words. By the time that Gorman began to lower the coffin into the ground, Pogue's mother had his arm in a death grip and her head was bowed. Her shoulders shook from the effort of holding her sobs inside. His vision grew blurry, but he wasn't sure if it was from the sight of his father's coffin being lowered into the ground or the feeling of his mother's manicured nails digging into his arm.

Pogue motioned for Milton to come over and help him when it was time to go back to the vehicles. Milton held her by the elbow and placed a hand on the small of her back. Her sobs grew louder, and she leaned on Pogue more heavily for support. His skin crawled as he felt the sympathetic gazes of the other families. He ducked his head and hid behind his unruly curtain of hair. Once they were inside the car, Pogue pulled back his sleeve and saw slight indentations from his mother's nails. He looked at her and saw her with her compact mirror out, cleaning her face with a tissue. He cleared his throat and asked softly, "Mom, are you sure you're feeling up to company?"

"Of c-course, darling," she replied shakily, "Mary has been preparing this lunch, and everyone-"

"I really don't care, Mother!" Pogue snapped. "We just buried my father, your husband, and you're acting like this is a fuckin' garden party!"

Milton stopped in front of the mansion, and Pogue climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him. He heard her calling out to him but ignored her. He ran around to the backyard. He yanked his jacket off, untucked his shirt, and undid his tie. As he passed the back porch, he tossed the jacket and tie in that direction, not really caring where it landed. Thunder rumbled and a few seconds later, lightening cracked across the sky. The tree had been chopped down not long after the accident, and in its place stood a gazebo. Pogue stood about fifteen feet away, glaring at it while the sky continued to darken. An unexplainable rage boiled up inside of him and as another roll of thunder sounded, he shouted and left his hands, sending a bolt of magic that split the gazebo into two.

"Pogue!"

He turned around to find his friends staring at him in shock. He wasn't one to lose control, especially with his powers, but the whole day had him so conflicted. He ran his fingers through his hair, his breathes beginning to come out in short gasps. The sky continued to darken and rumble, prompting Caleb to say, "Pogue, it's gonna rain soon Let's go inside."

"No!" Pogue exploded as the rain began to fall. He stormed toward the destroyed gazebo. As he raised his hands and readied his power to further demolish the gazebo, Caleb came up behind him and clamped his arms at his sides. Pogue struggled and because of the rain-slicked ground, the two of them fell. Pogue could hear Reid and Tyler rush over, hear their words of concern, but it didn't really register. He felt like his body was being flooded by a thousand different emotions all at once.

"I hate this," he whimpered.

"I know, man," Caleb replied, squeezing him. "Losing your dad must suck. But we're-"

"No!" Pogue shouted, pushing Caleb away. He stood and glared down at his friends, continuing, "I fell like we're cursed! This whole situation with my dad...he would still be alive if it weren't for this 'gift'."

"B-but Pogue," Tyler said brokenly, "then y-you'd be dead."

"We don't know that!" Pogue contradicted. "I could have just been paralyzed, and with physical therapy, who knows what could have happened?"

His knees buckled, and his body began to shake. His friends stayed where they were, like people frozen in fear as they watched a building burn. Pogue bent his legs, tucking his chin between his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs. He studied his friends' faces and whimpered, "This is a curse. One day this power is gonna kill us, and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"Fuck that!" Reid snapped suddenly. Caleb and Tyler jumped and looked at Reid. Pogue

doing the same. The blond boy moved closer to Pogue and shoved at his leg, growling, "Look at my dad! Hell, look at Ty's! They've found ways to control themselves. We can do the same! Just because we know shit will get rough later on doesn't mean we have to puss out now!"

Pogue found himself smiling at his friend's blunt words. Reid wrapped an arm around Pogue's shoulders and finished with, "Now I know things seem hopeless right now, but just you remember this: me, Tyler, and Caleb will always be here for you. Now let's get the hell out of this rain, raid your kitchen, and go play video games in your room."

Reid jumped up and the others followed his lead. Tyler patted Pogue on the back, and Caleb gave him a hug that lingered longer than most. Reid took the opportunity to further lighten the mood by telling them to get a room. Pogue flipped him off, and with that, they began heading back towards the house. Once they got under the cover of the back porch, Tyler looked back and chuckled, "Dude, your mom's gonna be super pissed about the gazebo."

Pogue shrugged. "I don't care. I always hated that thing anyway."

_Author's Note- Reviews are like warm chocolate chip cookies! Thank you for reading!_


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